All about the animanga

Valentines Day Special: My Top 5 Ships

Shipping quickly became a way of life once I started watching anime. It was already bubbling under the surface from reading lots of YA books, but it hatched into a full-fledged monster once my watched list had grown to an impressive size.

So, since tomorrow is all about love, I present to you my Top 5 Ships (in anime and manga).

5. Alibaba x Morgiana

Sweet babies!!

These two are just the cutest!

I love how Morgiana supports the sometimes hopeless Alibaba – catching him when he’s falling and making sure he patches things over with Aladdin in the Balbadd arc. Likewise, Alibaba cares for Morgiana, trusting her so much that he makes her part of his household by giving her a household vessel.

I know things are progressing between them in the manga, but they’re still going to run into problems at the end of the series. Doubtless Alibaba will want to rule Balbadd, and Morgiana will want to travel to the Dark Continent to see her homeland, a place it seems she won’t be able to come back from.

Praying these two get a happy ending, and somehow they will be able to come to a compromise and find some way to be together.

4. Mika x Yuu

It’s pretty certain the interaction between these two is fan service, either that or the author has absolutely no idea he’s literally spoon feeding fangirls solid shipping material.

Whatever it is, it’s so cute.

I love the Romeo and Juliet style story these two have – they want to be together, but are on two opposing sides. Both of them hold great affection for each other, Mika to the point of over protectiveness. Yuu feels a lot of guilt over Mika’s transformation, which he considers his fault as he abandoned Mika to escape.

In a dark fantasy setting such as Owari no Seraph, I have a nasty feeling the ending for these two might not be the happy one we hope they will get. I’m just glad they’ve been ruined for now.

3. Hotaru x Matsuoka

I’ve recently started shipping these two with a disturbing passion.

I love how Matsuoka fell in love with Hotaru even before he learnt she’s a girl – he fell for her personality rather than her gender. I think it’s going to be a massive relief for him when he finally learns that Hotaru is a girl – I think he’s a very confused man right now.

Fingers crossed that Hotaru returns his feelings. She is certainly attracted to his appearance (I think when she first sees him she calls him “hot” or “attractive”), and she likes him a lot, but at the moment not in a romantic way.

It’s early days for this ship.

2. Makoto x Haru

Is is fan-service?

Is it canon?

Who can say.

Whatever it is, I ship it. Hard.

As a couple these two work perfectly. Since Haru never talks, Makoto has a 6th sense that allows him to guess what his best friend is thinking. He can easily read Haru’s mood and thoughts when Haru has trouble expressing his feelings. Haru acts as a steady hand for Makoto, who has a tendency to be a scary cat. Haru is there when Makoto needs someone to hide behind or hold onto when he’s scared. They balance each other perfectly.

The two of them accept each other’s faults and know how to support their better half.

You can’t get a relationship more perfect than that.

1. Naruto x Hinata

Naruto x Hinata are my original OTP.

I’m so glad they became canon, because Hinata deserved Naruto. When he was about to lose his fight with Pain she was the only one who stepped up to help him. Even though she knew she had no hope of winning, she did it anyway to try to save him.

Naruto: The Last didn’t disappoint as a love story. How these two got together was so sweet – Hinata retained her badassery, saving her sister and putting her life on the line while staying true to her love for Naruto. I really liked how Naruto was the one who confessed to her first – no offence Hinata, but I have a feeling that if he hadn’t then it would have never happened.

Honorary mentions

Five slots just isn’t enough space to mention all my ships, so here are some others:

Kaneki x Touka

A.K.A. The ship that has no hope.

Yato x Hiyori

A.K.A. The ship that is has a huge chasm called immortality blocking its path

Rin x Shiemi

A.K.A. The ship that will one day set sail…hopefully

Yona x Hak

A.K.A The ship that had better sail soon because it’s taking for bloody ever

Maou x Emi

A.K.A The I love you/hate you ship

Yoite x Miharu

A.K.A The ship that was probably all about friendship, but we wanted it to be something more.